Turbine.



No. 891,874. Y PATBNTBD JUNE 3o, 1908.

Y W. E. SNOW.

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@messesmwmm@ No. 891,874. y PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908. W. E. SNOW.

TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. 1906.

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h//mssesf Inge E nu No. 891,874. PATENTED .TUNE 3.0, 1908.

W. E. SNOW.

TURBNE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. s. 1906.

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unirsi) STATES PATEN FETCH@ WILLIAM SNOW, OF HYDE PARK., MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO B. S'lUl'tlElAhll COU- PANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

TURB 1N E Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented .Tune 30, 1908.

v Application led NovemberS, 1906. Serial No. 841,823.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SNOW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hyde Park, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Turbine-Engines;4 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to' which it appertains to make and use the same. y

This invention relates particularly to turbines of the type in Whichvthe motive fluid is caused to impinge several times against the buckets on the rotating member before beingdischarged, bein reversed in direction after each impact by ed reversing guides. In turbines of this type it is desirable to afford a path for the motive fluidof substantially unrestricted area, the fluid being constrained only in'its direction of travel, so that under all conditionsof use it may have a free passage. It is also desirable to reduce as far as practicable the angle through which' the motive fluid is turned by the fixed reversing guides, so as to reduce the frictional losses against the guides. Another desideratum is the avoidance of end thrust on the shaft of the turbine.

The object of the present invention is to produce a turbine engine in which the characteristics above pointed out are combined,

tion; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through theaxisof the turbine Fign is a horizontal section through the up er portion of the turbine showing in detail t e buckets and reversing guides; and Figs. 4 andl 5 are diagrammatic representations of the path of movementof the motive fluid, shown in plan and elevationrespectively.l

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is constructed as follows: The turbine wheel 1,which rotates upon a shaft 2- in the ordinary iiianner, is provided at its periphery with two rings, upon the opposite inteiior faces of which are formed series of buckets 4 and 5 of the parallel-return type. The turbine is provided with a casing 6 inclosing the wheel, and within the periphery of the casing is mounted a base ring 7 upon which are formed a series of iixed reversing guides 8 which project radially vinto the space between the buckets 4 and 5. These reversing guides are of such length as to project entirely across the space between the buckets, so as to receive motive fluid from or deliver it to either the tops or bottoms of the buckets. The casing is provided with a series of equally-spaced inlet chambers 9 supplied with motive fluid through a pipe 10 comici-ling the inlet chambers with a suitable source of supply,and each inlet chamber is coil-- nected with anyinlet nozzle- 1 1 through which the motive liuid is discharged against the buckets.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the inlet nozzles are inclined so as to direct the motive fluid into the u per ends of one set of buckets, and in ordrdr that the impact of the steam maybe entirely balanced, so that the wheel may have no unbalanced end thrust upon its shaft, the' nozzles are directed alternately inopposite directions, as shown in Fig. 3.

The motive fluid, after entering the buckA ets from one of the inlet nozzles, follows a course like that shown inl Figs. 4 and .5. it iirst passesfroin the upper to the lower end of the bucket, thence is discharged against one of the reversing guides near the iniieil end.

thereof, and is thus reversed and directed against one of the opposite buckets, then passes to the upper end of suoli bucket,

strikes another reversing guide and is again disohargoi'l into a bucket of the first set, and l other side.

sage '13 into one of a series of exhaust chambers 14 interposed between the inlet chambers 9 and connected with an exhaust pipe 15.

The path of movement above ascribed to the motive fluid will be modified accord- This operation may occur', however, without impairing the efficiency of the liausted.

turbine, since the reversing guides are of sufficient depth to permit the passage of two opposite currents at the same time without interference. Owing to the arrangement of the buckets and the reversing guides, the latter are required to reverse the motive fiuid through an angle of substantially less than 180, thereby securing an economy which is not secured in arrangements 1n which the reversing guides turn Ithe motive fluid through a greater angle, and the present invention combineswith this advantage the repeated action of the motive fluid u on the same set ofV buckets, being arrange in the illustrated emb'odiment'to receive at least two impacts of the motive fluid against ea'ch set of buckets before the motive'fiuid is ex-4 Itis to be noted that the motive fluid, after issuing from the inlet nozzles, has a passage which is entirely unrestricted in area, the streamof. motive fluid being confined only in the direction of its travel, so that its path of movement is determined only by its impact against and deflection by the buckets and reversing guides, and it is free t-o expand in area'of cross section as its speed is re- 1lduced during its passage through the turine.

The present invention is the first turbine, so far'as the inventor is aware, in which a perfectly balanced action rfree from` end thrust is obtained without the duplication of the operative elements of the machine. It will be noted that the use of two o posite sets of buckets is not in this sense a diiiplication, since this arrangement is essential to the intended mode of operation of the turbine whether or not the inlet nozzles be arranged toI discharge in both directions or c in'one direction.

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. he arrangement of the illustrated embodiment of the invention in which the inter-- mediate reversing guides are mounted upon the fixed member and the parallel-return buckets are mounted upon the moving member is preferred because of the Sim licit of construction and the avoidance o h ig y `motive lui posed between thesets of reversing guides to.

pressure steam joints, but it is to be uhderstood that, viewed in its broader aspects, the invention contemplates other constructions within the purview of the claims.

K The invention is not limited to the details of construction and 'operation of the illustrated .embodiment butmay be embodied in other forms broadly defined in the claims.

1.` turbine engine, having, in combination, a wheeland a casing, the one provided with two op osed sets of parallel-return buckets, and tl'ie other provided with a set of intermediate reversing guides opposed to and extending across the whole length of the buckets, substantially as described. j

2. A turbine engine,'having, in combination, a Wheel and a casing, the one provided with two op osed sets of parallel-return buckets, and t e other with a set of intermediate reversing guides communicating with .both the tops and 'the bottoms of the buckets, substantially as described.

3. A.turbine engine, having, in combination, a wheel and a casing, theone being provided with opposed parallel-return buckets,

and the other provided with a plurality of sets 'of intermediate reversing guides, and with inlets and outlets for the motive fluid. and extion, a wheel provided with two o posed sets of parallel-return buckets, a set o intermediate fixed reversing guides communicating with both the tops andv the bottoms of the buckets, a casin rovided with an outlet, and an inlet nozz e ocated at a distance from theoutlet so that the motive iiuid operates a plurality of times on one set of buckets before being exhausted, substantially as described.'

6.l A turbine en ine, having, in combination, a wheel provied with opposed parallelreturn buckets, a plurality of sets of interme- .f

diete fixed lreversing uides, a casing provided with Lperipheral inlets and outlets for and exhaust deflectors interdirect the motive fluid outwardly wheel, substantially as described.. y

7 A turbine engine, having, in combina'- tiorna wheel provided with op osed parallelreturn buckets, intermediate guleii, and inlet nozzles arranged to direct the metive fluid against the opposite sets of from the ed reversing buckets simuItaneously so as to balance the sides of the Wheel so as to balance the end end thrust n the Wheel, substantially as dethrust therein, substantially as described. l0

scribed. In testimony whereof I aix my signature,

8. A turbine engine, having, in combinain presence of two Witnesses; 5 tion, a Wheel provided With opposed parallel- WILLIAM E. SNOW.

return buckets, e set of intermediate fixed Witnesses: reversing guides, end a lurality of inlet noz- HORACE VAN EVEREN,

zles directed alternatey against opposite FARNUM F. DoRsEY. 

